Page 101 - RusRPTMay19

voting for and 15 voting against. The bill establishes general parameters, but it will be up to the government to specify how it is implemented in practice. Roskomnadzor will, per the law, be given direct oversight and control of blocking sites and tracking users via equipment that internet providers and operators are now legally required to install. Roskomnadzor is also now able to determine access rules for providers and operators taking into account their compliance with data storage, censorship, and data collection demands responding to perceived security threats. No further amendments can be offered to the bill at this stage, so it would take an intervention from the cabinet, Medvedev, or the presidential administration to alter the terms by which it will be implemented.
Russia’s cross-border e-commerce trade was worth RUB350mn in 2018, representing 20% of e-commerce and 1% of retail sales in Russia. The number of shipments increased 34% y/y last year to 300mn packages, creating a strong comparison base. The YTD decline was linked to a combination of factors, including the aggressive growth of local marketplaces, lower limits for duty free shipments (down from €1,000 to €500 in 2019), maturing demand and the absence of a material improvement in delivery services and time. The substitution of cross-border trade represents a sizable growth pillar for domestic marketplaces, that are growing aggressively and could increase the presence of Chinese goods (which are the most affordable). In 2019-23F, e- commerce increasing at a CAGR of 16% to RUB3.4tn and accounting for 8% of the retail market. The food segment still lags the non-food segment due to the need for established logistics and delivery services, the still evolving service parameters and the developing capabilities for providing quality fresh categories. Alliances between IT companies, leading credit institutions and global retailers could provide true rivals for traditional chains (once they have attained the aforementioned capabilities), creating a threat that the latter currently largely overlook.
Russia's Fund for Direct Investment (RDIF) and internet major Yandex discussed deals and joint projects in Turkey, the head of the fund Kirill Dmitriev told the press, while announcing the creation of €900mn Russo- Turkish investment fund. "Yandex has a successful search engine business, good transportation solutions. We see that on the basis of what Yandex has in Turkey we can improve Russia's technological presence in Turkey and other Arab countries," Dmitriev said as cited by Reuters. Russia's growing digital economy sees emergence of major financial-technological clusters, such as Mail.ru-MegaFon-VTB Bank and Yandex-Sberbank. The former seems to have a good grip on Chinese development direction, with a number of cooperation deals announced with the e-commerce major Alibaba. Previously Yandex.Market and Sberbank chose a commercial strategy for its online marketplace that focuses on developing a cross-border trade platform that uses non-Chinese suppliers of good quality, among them also Turkish suppliers.
Smartphone sales in Russia increased 13% on the year to RUB107bn ($1.6bn) in January–March and 8% to 6.7mn units, retailer Svyaznoy-Euroset said on April 2 in a statement. The average price grew 4.6% on the year to 15,900. “As a year ago, the average price rose in the first quarter of 2019 because demand moves toward more recent models and an opportunity to purchase handsets of a medium and upper price segments on credit or by instalments,” Vice President of sales David Borzilov said
The share of the Russian Internet market in the Russian GDP is growing
101 RUSSIA Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com